Person(s) Requested: Taemin[Main], Rest of SHINee(?)[Minor]
Plot: Taemin, a highschooler in his second year, is very much a slacker. He doesn't do a lot of homework, nor does he pay a lot of attention in school - but, yet, almost everyday, he goes to the bookstore across the street. Why? Because Kim Joori is there. Kim Joori, the glasses-wearing, high-tied-bun wearing employer who doesn't say a lot, nor speaks a lot, but will always greet you with a smile. On the first day, he was interested. On the second day, he was curious. On the third day, he kept on wondering. On the fourth - it was a routine. A routine that ended with a frown, for he never had the guts to say, "Hello" or to even speak. He wanted to know her, wanted to be friends with - wanted to be something with her. That's when the SHINee boys step in, and give their maknae a little bit of help

"Taemin-ah, please answer the question."

Minho turned his head to glance at his friend who was fast asleep, easily covering it up with his long bangs as he leaned back in his chair. The older boy shook his head and turned around to face the front.

"Lee Taemin?" The teacher called, walking over to the teenager's desk. "Yah, are you really sleeping right now?" The older man slapped a hand on Taemin's desk in hopes of catching his attention.

Jonghyun, who sat beside Taemin and who had been trying to wake him up for several minutes, kicked his leg none-too-gently, successfully jerking the sleeping boy awake. The blonde grinned at the scowling teen who turned to look at him and motioned over at the teacher. Tilting his head back to properly gaze up at the teacher, Taemin gave a bright, cheery smile.

"Yes, ssam?"

Minho rolled his eyes at his best friend; only he would go and use such an informal term with a teacher...

"Would you like to go to the board and answer the question?"

And get away with it.

Taemin nodded, the smile still present. "Of course."

He stood from his chair and waltzed to the board and picked up a dry erase marker, staring at the math problem for a good few minutes before turning around to look back at the teacher. "Um..."

"Yes, Taemin-ah?" Taemin scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"This problem... How do you do it?"

...

"I can't believe Mr. Jang lets you get away with acting like that," Jonghyun chuckled as he, Minho, and Taemin walked towards the lunchroom to meet up with Onew and Key for lunch. "I would get hit or something if I acted as informally as you do."

"What amazes me is how you pass the class when you never do your work or pay attention in class." Minho was slightly scowling as he said this, obviously feeling a bit sour; he worked his hardest to get the highest grades he could, yet Taemin still had a higher grade... by one point. One. Freaking. Point.

"Don't look so mad, Hyung! I only do well because I cram right before tests and that's about the only thing that he takes grades for in his class."

This statement only proved to further annoy the athelete who glowered at the maknae before speeding away to the lunch line. Taemin scratched the back of his head while Jonghyun simply laughed, amused by the two younger boys. "This is why you don't discuss grades with Minho, Taemin. It really doesn't seem fair how well you do in Mr. Jang's class."

The long-haired teen just shrugged. "I can't help the way I am," He glanced at his watch. "Anyways, I'm going to get going now. Say 'Hi' to the Onew hyung and Umma for me, okay?"

"Where are you going?" The older boy looked at his friend with curiosity.

Taemin hesitated for a second before replying. "Somewhere."

...

Jingle.

As he walked into Madame Choi's Curious Book Shop, Taemin immediately looked to his left where the check out counter was and shyly smiled at the girl that stood there. She bowed her head slightly at him and smiled back, organizing a pile of books on the counter in alphabetical order. The long-haired male contemplated actually voicing his greeting for a few seconds before walking away to the back where all of the comics were located, leaning against the wall beside the shelf of comics so that he could read and still catch glances of the intriguing creature behind the check out counter.

The girl's name was Kim Joori, though Taemin only knew this because of the name tag she wore. The teenage boy had been to the book store numerous times because of that girl, but he could never muster the courage to speak to her no matter how hard he tried. It was funny how he was so popular among the girls in his school, yet here he was acting so shyly around one girl, and one that looked so friendly, too. Taemin sighed and placed the comic he had been "reading" back on the shelf, waltzing out of the book store without another glance at Joori, not wishing to remind himself of the disappointment he felt with himself.

Joori watched Taemin with curious and slightly saddened eyes. Just about every day he would visit the shop, but he had yet to talk to her, and it frustrated Joori just the tiniest bit. Why did he refuse to speak to her? Did he think she was ugly? Sure, she didn't consider herself to be the prettiest girl in the world, but she didn't think she was exactly hideous, either. Maybe he was just shy... But there was no way that could be it; he looked like one of those flower boys you would see in a drama, so why would he be nervous around a girl like her? The brunette huffed, pushing up her glasses and carrying the alphabetized stack of books to the back. One day she would work up the courage to start a conversation.

...

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Do you like her?"

"What's her name?"

"You totally like her, don't you?"

"If you just watch her every time you go there, she might think you're a creeper or something..."

"My boy's growing up!"

"Shut up, Key."

"Our little Taemin has a crush!"

"Yah, who're you telling to shut up, Kim Jonghyung?!"

"I didn't get to finish my chicken..."

Taemin sighed for a second time that day and resisted the urge to bang his head against a wall. Jonghyun, curious about his dongsaeng, decided to follow Taemin and bring the others along for company. The quartet had spied on the poor maknae and seen everything; Taemin's longing, puppy dog looks, his love sick sigh, and, most of all, his lack of interaction with Joori.

"She's just some girl who works at a book store, okay?" The long-haired teen spat out and began to walk away, embarrassed now that his friends new about his... well, whatever it was he had with the book store employee.

"Some girl who you wanna love on..." Minho teased, smirking as he observed Taemin's reddening cheeks.

"I-It's not like that!"

"Then why did you just stare at her the whole time?"

Taemin, having no valid reply, sped away from his four friends. He didn't feel like dealing with the nosy teens at that moment in time; after all, he had only just experienced yet another disappointment caused by his own actions. He certainly didn't feel like nor want his friends teasing him about whatever it was that he had with Joori. The poor boy just wanted some peace, and maybe some advice. Of course, his hyungs weren't exactly great at giving advice...

They were more experienced in the meddling department.

...

"Ah, Joori-ssi?"

The seventeen-year-old finished locking the door to the store and turned, her eyes widening at the sight she saw. "Jonghyun-ssi?" She tilted her head.

Jonghyun took the tilting as, "Why are you here?" and smiled, sliding an arm around Joori's shoulders. "Take a walk with Oppa, okay?"

"Okay..."

The first few minutes were awkward. Joori knew Jonghyun because she had chorus with him, but she wasn't very familiar with him, and he was acting very familiar with the way he had his arm slung around her shoulders. She felt uncomfortable with his closeness, though she knew the older boy was just trying to be friendly. If he has something to say, I wish he'd just say it.

"So you work at that book store, huh?"

Joori nodded.

"How often?"

"Before and after school and sometimes during lunch. Why?"

Jonghyun simply grinned. "Just curious."

A few seconds of silence passed before anything else was said. "Why did you want me to walk with you, Jonghyun-ssi?"

The blonde contemplated whether he should tell her about Taemin or not, unsure if it was the wisest thing to do. What if Joori held no interest for his dongsaeng? That would be horrible.

Still, what if she did hold some interest for Taemin?

"My friend likes you, I think."

Joori's heart skipped a beat. A friend of his, meaning a popular and good-looking guy, liked her? The studious, quiet, mouse of a girl? No way.

"And for some reason, he's acting shy around you. I don't know why; he usually acts all smooth around girls or pulls out his aegyo," Jonghyun took his arm away from Joori's shoulders and stopped walking, facing the girl. "You may or may not end up liking him, but I need you to try talking to him, okay? Come sit with me and the rest of my group at lunch next time you're free."

Joori blinked a few times before slowly nodding her head. It wasn't like she would have anything better to do; none of her friends had the same lunch period with her, so she might as well sit with Jonghyun and his friends, even if she didn't really know them.

Jonghyun gave a dazzling smile. "Thanks for doing me this favor, Joori-ssi. I promise you won't regret it."

You better be able to keep that promise, Kim Jonghyun.

...

Taemin yawned as he made his way towards the table where he and the rest of his friends sat every day for lunch. Today he had had a particularly good nap because he didn't get caught by the teacher this time, and now he was ready to enjoy the lunch his mother had prepared for him. The long-haired teen sat down beside Minho, still half awake, and unwrapped the cloth around his lunchbox. He didn't notice the surprised girl sitting in front of him, or the "subtle" looks Onew was giving him. Could one blame him, though? He had only just woken up.

"Yah, Taemin-ah," Key called, waving his chopsticks at the maknae. "Aren't you going to say 'hi' to the new addition to our table?"

"What--" Taemin's eyes became wide when he looked up, spotting Joori who looked as surprised as he did.

"This is Kim Joori. She's in the grade below us," Jonghyun ate a spoonful of rice before continuing on. "I have chorus with her, and I found out that she doesn't have anyone to sit with during lunch, so I brought her over here," Seeing that Taemin couldn't seem to find the words to speak, he spoke for him. "Joori-ssi, this is Lee Taemin."

"Ah, so that's his name..."

"Hm?"

Joori blushed slightly. "He often visits the book store I work at, so I wondered what his name was for a long time now."

"You never asked him before?" Minho inquired.

She shook her head. "We've never spoken. He usually just looks around for a while before leaving."

The boy gave Taemin a sly look. "He just looks, huh?"

Taemin didn't even notice Minho's attempt to rile him up. "You go here?"

"Of course," Joori pushed her glasses up. "That's why I work at the book store; it's close to the school."

"Oh," Taemin's cheeks flushed a light pink. "Well, it's nice to officially meet and actually talk to you."

The tinge of pink didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the table, including Joori. She smiled. Adorable. "The same to you."

I'm glad we finally spoke.

4 Months Later

"Aish, Taemin-ah..." Joori resisted the urge to ruffle her hair that she now kept down instead of up in a bun after many days of Taemin insisting she looked better with her hair down. "Why don't you ever do your work on time?"

"Because it's boring."

"Sure, but it saves you from having to do everything at the last minute like this," She sighed and plopped herself down on his bed, falling back as she did so. "How the heck are we going to finish your project on time?"

Taemin laid down beside her, leaning his head on his arm and grinning over at her. "With a lot of coffee and a lot of luck?"

"Not to mention a lot of patience..." Joori blew at some hair that was tickling her face, but failed to move it as much as she wanted, and huffed with annoyance evident in her eyes. The long-haired teen beside her chuckled and brushed the lock of hair away from her face, his fingers lightly grazing her cheek. Joori's cheeks immediately turned a light shade of pink. "Thanks."

"No problem," Taemin continued to smile at Joori, no longer feeling so shy around her. Now that he had befriended her and gotten to know the studious girl, he found that it was really easy to be natural around her, just like how it was with Minho, Jonghyun, Key, and Onew. He didn't really know why that was, but he didn't really care either; he was just happy to finally be friends with the girl he had admired from afar for so long.

Kim Joori looked over at Taemin, studying his face. Her heart fluttered at his bright smile, reminding her of the feelings that had slowly formed over the time she had come to know Lee Taemin. At first she was felt nervous and self-concious whenever she was around him because he seemed cold and closed compared to the rest of the group of boys, but it didn't take long for Taemin's true nature to be revealed... That boy could be a real handful at times.

A soft, content smile formed on Joori's lips. Hopefully one day he'll just be my handful.

The lazy boy sat up and stretched his arms, yawning once before falling backwards onto his bed and tucking his arms behind his head. "Let's take a nap before we continue with the project, okay? I'm tired."

"We haven't even started!"

"Please, Joori-ah?" Taemin begged.

"But we--"

She was cut off by the teenager pulling her into his arms and resting his head on top of her own. Her cheeks turned bright red, her heart beating a mile per minute. Does he realize what's he's doing to me?

Taemin was grinning on the inside. Oh, he knew exactly what he was doing to the poor girl. "Please?"

"...Fine."

They laid there for a few moments in a comfortable silence. Taemin bit his bottom lip, fighting with himself internally. Should he say ask? Should he just wait a little longer? What if she said no? Then again, what if she said yes?

Joori's breathing began to slow down, her eyes drooping lower and lower each time she blinked. She felt rather comfortable in Taemin's arms.

"By the way, Joori-ah..."

She made a sound, too tired to say a real response.

"I like you."

Not completely understanding the real meaning of his words, Joori responded with, "Aw, I like you, too."

Taemin nearly shook her head. How could she be that dense? "No, pabo, I like you. And I want you to be my girlfriend."

Well, that certainly got her wide awake. "W-what?"

Not once letting go of Joori, Taemin continued on. "I think I liked you ever since I saw you at the book store for the first time. I mean, not love at first sight, but there was definitely an attraction. So..." He finally released the brunette girl, gazing down at her with eyes that had suddenly become shy. "Will you, you know... Go out with me?"

She blinked once. Twice. Thrice. "You're seriously asking me?"

Taemin looked away, taking her answer as rejection. If she didn't believe it, she wasn't expecting it, and that meant she never even thought of him that way. He sat up and made to get up, but Joori grabbed his sleeve.

"Are you?"

"Yeah..."

Who knows where the sudden confidence came from, but with that answer from Taemin, Joori touched her lips to Taemin's, closing her eyes. When she pulled away, her face was beat red, but she was smiling the same smile she used to give every time she saw him at the book store.

"I'd love to be your girlfriend."

*Ssam is a very informal term for a student to call their teacher

I'm so sorry it took so long to get this out! OTL Freaking school got in the way with midterms and projects and whatnot... And I feel like this oneshot isn't the best. I really wanted to add in more of the other SHINee members, but it just didn't seem to work... I'm really sorry if this oneshot isn't that great. T_T

And to my second requester, your oneshot will be on its way soon! Sorry again for taking so long!

Thanks for reading and don't forget to comment~